masterofmagicfandomcom-20200216-history
Warp Creature
| rarity = Common | type = Unit Curse | casting_cost = | research_cost = | effects = Target unit receives one of the following penalties at random: * halved, OR * halved, OR * set to 0. The spell may be cast repeatedly on the same unit to inflict more than one of the above. }} Warp Creature is a Common Unit Curse belonging to the realm. For it may be cast on an enemy unit during combat. If the targeted unit fails a Resistance roll at , that unit will be afflicted with one of three different penalties: , , or . The spell may be applied three times to the same unit, in order to apply all three of the above penalties. Warp Creature's effects last until the end of the battle, and do not linger on to the campaign map. Thus, the spell has no Upkeep Costs. Effects Warp Creature attempts to inflict one of three different penalties on the target unit's combat statistics. It can make the unit's Melee Attack weaker, reduce its Defense, or make it totally vulnerable to further spells. Random Status Penalties Upon casting Warp Creature on an enemy unit, that unit gets to make a Resistance roll at a penalty of . Failure in this roll means that the unit will be afflicted with one of three different penalties, chosen entirely at random. Option #1: Melee Attack Penalty :If this option is chosen, the unit's is reduced by 50%, and then rounded down. :This effectively halves both the maximum and average damage this unit will deal with its Melee Attack and Counter Attack, barring any Special Attacks it may have which are completely unaffected. :Note that is not affected by Warp Creature, if the unit possesses it at all. Option #2: Defense Penalty :If this option is chosen, the unit's rating is reduced by 50%, and then rounded down. :This effectively halves both the maximum and average amount of damage this unit will be able to block whenever struck by an enemy attack. As a result it will be easier to inflict damage on this unit. Option #3: Zero Resistance :If this option is chosen, the unit's natural Resistance score is immediately set to exactly . However, additional modifiers may still apply. In particular, the Resist Magic spell will continue to protect the unit despite a successful Warp Creature. :This effectively makes the unit completely vulnerable to the majority of Unit Curses and other combat maledictions (such as Stoning Gaze, etc.) which require it to make a Resistance roll. :In fact, this reduction in Resistance also makes the unit vulnerable to further attempts at casting Warp Creature on it, as described below. Warp Creature on top of Other Bonuses When Warp Creature is affecting a creature that is enjoying bonuses to its , or , the penalties from Warp Creature are calculated last. For example, assume we have a unit with a basic Melee Attack Strength of as well as a affecting it. When Warp Creature is cast on this unit, its Melee Attack Strength is taken as a whole: . Warp Creature then halves it to . The same occurs when the creature is enjoying bonuses. Creatures with will have their Resistance score lowered to 0 despite those bonuses. For example, a creature with and a bonus of will have its total resistance score reduced to , not to . Multiple Warp Creature It is possible to cast Warp Creature repeatedly on the same unit - in an attempt to inflict all three possible penalties on that unit. In other words, if Warp Creature is cast successfully at a unit three times in the same battle, that unit will have , , AND . On the first casting, one of the three effects is chosen at random, with a 33% chance of choosing any of them. On the second casting, one of the other two effects is chosen with a 50% chance between them. The third casting will apply the remaining effect. It is not possible to inflict the same effect twice on the same unit in the same battle. In other words, if a unit already has due to Warp Creature, it will not get this effect a second time until the next battle (assuming it survives at all). When the unit already has all 3 different Warp Creature effects on it, casting the spell successfully at this unit again will crash the game. See more on this in the '''Known Bugs' section, below.'' Usage appears pink/purple with a brighter outline. This, however, does not indicate which effect is applied to this unit.]] Warp Creature may only be cast during combat, for the Casting Cost of . Although the spell's in-game tooltip indicates that it may be cast on Normal Units only, in truth it can be successfully targeted at any enemy unit. The only exception is that Warp Creature may not be targeted at units possessing the Magic Immunity ability. The game will refuse to target such units, asking you to pick another target instead. The target gets to make a Resistance roll at , meaning that the effect can potentially fail. In fact, any unit with or more is absolutely immune to the spell. Casting Warp Creature on such a unit is simply a waste of . Once the spell is successfully cast on a unit, it will immediately affect that unit's statistics as explained above. A different icon is added to the unit's "Abilities" list (in its details panel) depending on which effect was inflicted by the spell. As explained above, you can place all three effects on a unit, in which case it will have three different icons in its ability list to indicate this. A unit affected by Warp Creature will appear on the battlefield map in a purplish/pinkish tint, as shown in the image to the right. To see which of Warp Creature's effects are active on this unit, you have to check its details panel as explained above. As a Unit Curse, Warp Creature's effect(s) lingers until the end of the battle. Once combat ends the spell will dissipate immediately, and will not carry over to the campaign map. Therefore, the spell has no Upkeep Cost to be paid. Acquisition As a Common spell, Warp Creature may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least Spellbooks. Customized Wizards possessing up to Spellbooks at creation time may choose this spell as one of their default spells before starting the game, in which case the spell will already be researched and available for casting immediately on the first turn. Wizards with Spellbooks are guaranteed to have this spell available for casting as soon as the game begins. Wizards with or fewer Spellbooks who have not chosen Warp Creature as a guaranteed spell have a random chance of being able to Research it. The chance for this spell to appear increases with the number of Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research if it is not already available for casting. Warp Creature has a base Research Cost of . With at least Spellbook, the Warp Creature spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell. Strategy Warp Creature is a very powerful Unit Curse, as it can make a unit significantly less dangerous, significantly easier to kill, or completely susceptible to further spellcasting (or all three of these!). The only drawback is that the spell allows the target to make a Resistance roll. This means that higher-end units will be completely resistant to it. As a result, the spell will likely fall out of favor as the campaign develops, though it can still be used in conjunction with other Resistance-lowering spells. One powerful use of Warp Creature is in combination with Life Drain. Once the unit has no resistance, a hero may drain it for hits or the wizard may drain it for spell skill, and get the unit as undead after winning the battle. Heroes with artifacts giving penalties to resistance can even do this to otherwise impervious units. Known Bugs When a unit is affected by all three Warp Creature effects, a successful attempt to cast another Warp Creature spell on the same unit during this battle will cause the game to freeze/crash. This is probably a result of the game trying to make a random roll to determine which effect to place on the unit, failing to do so because no further effects are available (the unit already has all 3), and making another random roll and another and another. If you've cast lots of Warp Creature spells during a battle, always check your next target's details panel to see whether it already has all available effects. If so, do not cast the spell on this target again. Category:Unit Curses Category:Chaos